QUITO, ECUADOR — OPEC's pricing committee opened formal talks Friday with a ''concrete proposal'' by Kuwait on measures to raise oil prices but will not discuss production levels, an Ecuadoran oil ministry official said.

Fernando Santos, Ecuador's assistant energy and mining minister, did not provide details of the Kuwaiti proposal in the minutes before the three-member pricing committee began its closed-door meeting at a Quito hotel.

But a growing number of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have gone on record as supporting Saudi Arabia's recent recommendation that the 13-nation cartel reestablish a fixed price of $18 to $20 a barrel. Oil now is selling at $14 to $15.

Santos ruled out any discussions on production by the pricing committee, even though most analysts contend the OPEC must trim output further to boost oil prices.

Javier Espinosa Teran, Ecuador's oil minister, had said Thursday that the key issue facing the panel is how to lower OPEC's temporary production ceiling of 17 million barrels a day to drive up prices in the glutted world market.

It was not known why the committee had decided to sidestep the production issue.

Espinosa and Fawzi A. Shakshuki, Libya's oil minister, are on the committee, which is chaired by Sheikh Ali Khalifa al-Sabah, Kuwait's oil minister.

OPEC formed the pricing committee last month during a 17-day meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.